The body of Casper Lauer, the first Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty more than 148 years ago, lies somewhere among the graves of his extended family on the south edge of St. Boniface Cemetery. A monument erected by city and county officials to commemorate his death was removed during the 1950s after it had deteriorated to the point of collapse, but it was never replaced. In all, the graves of 63 of 420 slain officers go unmarked, while others have...

Forget everything you have learned on "CSI" and "Law & Order. " "A trial of 1886 was completely different," said Timothy Messer-Kruse, who will discuss the historic Haymarket trial during the Haymarket Commemoration Weekend at the Chicago History Museum on Sept. 24 and 25. On May 4, 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket incident, eight policemen and at least four civilians were killed when a bomb was thrown during a workers meeting in Haymarket Square, near Desplaines...

Most of the hundreds of motorists who drive by the intersection of Randolph and Desplaines Streets each day are likely to be unaware of passing one of Chicago's most historic sites--indeed, the scene of an event felt throughout the world. The only official reminder of what happened at what was once known as Haymarket Square is a small plaque that is practically invisible, set in the sidewalk. But for almost an hour Friday, those who were driving west from the Loop on Randolph toward the entrances...

On May 4, 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, at least 10 Chicago police officers and labor demonstrators were killed when a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square during a rally for an eight-hour workday. In 1904 the United States began building the Panama Canal. In 1927 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. In 1932 mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. In 1945, during World War II, German forces in the...

On May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI published an edict dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal. In 1626 Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on Manhattan. (He later purchased the island from Indians for trinkets worth $24.) In 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, at least 10 Chicago police officers and labor demonstrators were killed when a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square during a rally for an eight-hour workday. In 1904 the U.S. took...

Growing up in Guatemala, Christian Castro always considered May Day the day for workers around the world to commemorate the struggle once waged by workers in Chicago. And so, on the way home from the march for immigrants, Castro made sure to stop by the late Monday afternoon rally held by Chicago unions at the Haymarket Square monument on Desplaines Street on the Near West Side. "It's important to support this," the 27-year-old electrical engineer said as he took in the ceremony that marked the...

On May 4, 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, at least 10 Chicago police officers and labor demonstrators were killed when a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square during a rally for an eight-hour workday. In 1904 the United States began building the Panama Canal. In 1927 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded. In 1932 mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. In 1945, during World War II, German forces in the...

On May 4, 1626, Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present-day Manhattan Island. In 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, at least 10 Chicago police officers and labor demonstrators were killed when a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square during a rally for an eight-hour workday. In 1904 the United States began building the Panama Canal. In 1932 mobster Al Capone, convicted of income tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. In...

Centuries and Sleuths 7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park 708-771-7243 1. THE WHEAT FIELD By Steve Thayer (Penguin Putnam, $24.95) A deputy sheriff investigates after two nude bodies are found in a Wisconsin wheat field in 1960. 2. MURDER CAN KILL YOUR SOCIAL LIFE By Selma Eichler (Signet, $5.99 paper) Chubby New York gumshoe Desiree Shapiro is on the case of a double murder in this series debut. 3. MISSING FROM HAYMARKET SQUARE ...

To union workers, Haymarket Square just west of the Loop is hallowed ground, a place where the modern labor movement was baptized by the fire of an oppressive government. To many police officers, it is a notorious spot where eight of their brethren fell while trying to quell a demonstration led by anarchists on May 4, 1886. So it was surprising, or at least a nod to the Haymarket riot's undisputed historical significance, when city and state officials dedicated a new Haymarket monument at...

On May 4, 1626, Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present-day Manhattan Island. In 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket riot, at least 10 Chicago police officers and labor demonstrators were killed when a bomb exploded in Haymarket Square during a rally for an eight-hour workday. In 1904 the United States began building the Panama Canal. In 1932 mobster Al Capone, convicted of income tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. In...

During a lifetime of soap-box oratory for myriad radical causes, Lucy Parsons loved to bait the cops. So it's only fitting that police chose to continue the fight six decades after her death, objecting to naming a vest-pocket park on the Northwest Side in her honor. Over the vigorous protests of the local police union, the Chicago Park District's board on Wednesday named the park after Parsons, a woman long associated with the notorious Haymarket bombing of 1886. "They are going to name...

Forget everything you have learned on "CSI" and "Law & Order. " "A trial of 1886 was completely different," said Timothy Messer-Kruse, who will discuss the historic Haymarket trial during the Haymarket Commemoration Weekend at the Chicago History Museum on Sept. 24 and 25. On May 4, 1886, in what came to be known as the Haymarket incident, eight policemen and at least four civilians were killed when a bomb was thrown during a workers meeting in Haymarket Square, near Desplaines...

There's a good chance that a free, informative and timely 8-mile bicycle tour of points of interest related to Chicago's role as the birthplace of May Day will leave Daley Plaza at 6:15 p.m. Friday. The plan is for riders to start by heading west to Randolph and Des Plaines Streets, the site of the Haymarket Tragedy of 1886. There, route planner Michael Burton, 37, will use a bullhorn to tell a story that's better known in the rest of the world than it is in Chicago: The...

Sunday will mark 107 years since thousands of workers -- as well as people who were in Chicago to visit the World's Columbian Exposition -- took the train to Forest Park's Waldheim Cemetery for the dedication of a monument to the Haymarket Martyrs who, with one exception, are all buried there. Now, a new Web exhibit called "The Dramas of Haymarket" (www.chicagohistory.org/dramas) makes it possible to see photographs of the bronze statue, depicting a woman who represents Justice in the act of...

Centuries and Sleuths 7419 W. Madison St., Forest Park 708-771-7243 1. THE WHEAT FIELD By Steve Thayer (Penguin Putnam, $24.95) A deputy sheriff investigates after two nude bodies are found in a Wisconsin wheat field in 1960. 2. MURDER CAN KILL YOUR SOCIAL LIFE By Selma Eichler (Signet, $5.99 paper) Chubby New York gumshoe Desiree Shapiro is on the case of a double murder in this series debut. 3. MISSING FROM HAYMARKET SQUARE ...